RUSS KIERNAN An Oral History Interview Conducted by ...

Mill Valley Oral History Program A collaboration between the Mill Valley Historical Society and the Mill Valley Public Library

RUSS KIERNAN An Oral History Interview Conducted by Michelle Petersen in 2013

? 2013 by the Mill Valley Public Library

TITLE: Oral History of Russ Kiernan INTERVIEWER: Michelle Petersen DESCRIPTION: Transcript, 34 pages INTERVIEW DATE: December 17th, 2013

Tenacious and fearless runner, Dipsea Race winner, and teacher Paul Russell ("Russ") Kiernan was born in Oakland on January 8th, 1938. Russ attended several San Francisco schools as a child, and pursued his higher education at San Francisco City College and San Francisco State University. Immediately following graduation, he began work as an elementary school teacher, ultimately spending most of his career at Francis Scott Key Elementary School in San Francisco's Sunset District. Russ and his wife Marilyn moved to Mill Valley in 1967. Russ took up running in his late 20s, ran his first Dipsea Race in 1969 and won his first Dipsea championship in 1998. In the interview, he describes many aspects of the local running community, including early Bay to Breakers races, the Dolphin South End Runners Club, local trails and prominent local runners, as well as some surprising and audacious personal running experiences. Russ also touches on stories about his family and life as a teenager in San Francisco in the 1950s, and imparts some running wisdom.

? All materials copyright Mill Valley Library. Transcript made available for research purposes only. All rights are reserved to the Mill Valley Library. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the: Lucretia Little History Room Mill Valley Public Library 375 Throckmorton Avenue Mill Valley, CA 94941

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Oral History of Russ Kiernan Index

Andrews, Donna...p.25 Avenue of the Giants...p.29 Bank Market...p.11 Bartel, Al p.31 Bay to Breakers Race...p.18, 19 Beale, Pax...p. 21 Boitano, Mary Etta...p.29 Burns, Jamie...p.27 Canon, Todd...p.20 Carcione, Anita...p.4, 13 Chafe, Don...p.24-25 Chinatown...p.12 Christmas...p.9, 11 City College...p.6-7 Civic Auditorium...p.6 Dickerson, Bill...p.27 Dipsea Race...p.3, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Dolphin Club...p.20 Dolphin South End Runners....p.20, 26 Double Dipsea...p.26 Dowling St....p.3 Embarcadero...p.12 Fitzpatrick, Jim...p.8 Francis Scott Key School...p.12-13, 14 Gallagher, Mike...p.9 George Peabody School...p.6 Hanley, Ella (grandmother)...p.1 Hanley, Gertrude Marie (mother)...p.4 Healdsburg...p.3 Hoey, Paul...p. 27 Joe's Taco Lounge...p.16 Kiernan, John Joseph (father)...p.4 Kiernan, Marilyn (wife)...p. 4, 13, 14, 15, 23, 32 Kirk, Jack...p.27 La Ginestra...p.18 Lake Tahoe...p.13, 23 Magid, Barbara...p.19 Marin General Hospital...p.15 Mill Valley Market...p. 17

Mills College...p.6 Mountain Home Inn...p.27 Muir Woods...p.27 Neeley, Anne...p.19 Olympic Club...p.21 O'Shea, Pat...p.7 Pacific Bell Park (stadium)...p.11 Park Presidio Blvd...p.8 Parkside Caf?...p.21, 26, 30 Pearl Harbor...p.2 Peterson, Elaine...p.21 PG&E...p.7-8 Playland at the Beach...p.13 Presidio, the...p.20, 29 Quinn's Bar...p.17-18 Reno, NV...p.23 Rio Nido...p.8 Rivers, Roy...p.27 Roenau, Hans...p.27 Roper, Bob...p.8 Russian River...p.8-9 Ryan, Joe...p.27 Sacred Heart High School...p.6 Salaber, Lou...p.7 San Anselmo...p.8 San Francisco City College...p.6 San Francisco State University...p.10-11 Santa Rosa, CA...p.9 Schmid, Hans...p.27 Schultz, Melody...p.32 Shenenfeld, Claudia...p.19 Stack, Walt...p.20 Spitz, Barry...p.25 Squaw Valley...p.13 St. Cyril's School...p.6 St. Ignatius High School...p.6 St. Vincent School for Boys...p.14 Star of the Sea Catholic School...p.6 Steer, Tom...p.18 Sweetwater Music Hall...p.18 Tamalpa Runners...p.27-28

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Trot, Susan...p.19 Turner, Giles...p.19 Waldo Grade...p.29 Winterland Ballroom...p.5, 11 Zack's by the Bay...p.21

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Oral History of Russ Kiernan December 17th, 2013

Editor's note: This transcript differs in some ways from the audio recording. Portions of the recorded interview were moved in the transcript for narrative clarity, and other minor corrections and clarifications have been made.

Michelle Petersen: This is Michelle Petersen and I am here with Russ and we are going to start our oral history. Go ahead, Russ, state today's date, your name, and place.

Russ Kiernan: My real name is Paul Russell Kiernan but I've never gone by Paul. My brothers called me Russ and I've always gone by Russ. When I get a phone call asking for Paul, I know it's some solicitation. Today is the 17th of December, 2013, and we are in 701 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley in our condominium.

Michelle Petersen: So your parents called you Russ always from the beginning?

Russ Kiernan: Right, everybody did. I never went by Paul.

Michelle Petersen: Where are your parents from; what is your ethnic background there?

Russ Kiernan: My ethnic background is Irish. My dad was born in New York in 1898 and his family moved back to Ireland when his grandfather got sick. The grandfather got better but my dad's father died. I never knew him. They came back to New York with my grandmother and then came out to California. My grandmother died in 1928. My dad met my mother at a dance around that time. My mother was born in San Francisco in 1902 before the earthquake. I asked my brother the other day, where Gram Ella was born, Ella Hanley, and he said she was born in San Francisco, too.

Michelle Petersen: So wow, a long history of San Franciscans.

Russ Kiernan: My mother was small at the time of the earthquake. She knew some of it but didn't remember that much.

Michelle Petersen: Yeah, it would be difficult. Do you know what year your father moved to California, to San Francisco?

Russ Kiernan: I don't. Well, it must have been in the early '20s, maybe, or even a little earlier than that, I don't know.

Michelle Petersen: Is your mother's side of the family Irish as well?

Russ Kiernan: Yes.

Michelle Petersen: Full Irish, then,

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